True Family
by KDMOSP
Summary: The second part in the "True" series. It's Christmas, and little Henry is afraid Santa might not find him in the hospital..


**A/N: This is a sequel to True Strength. You do need to read that one to understand this one!**

JJ nearly burst into tears as she walked out of the last open store on Christmas Eve. She had failed. She had failed Henry. All he wanted was some kind of Lego building set from Santa; and she had failed to find it. Apparently, it was one of the hottest toys of the year, which she only found out after visiting nearly every retailer she could think of.

It was nearing seven at night, and knowing that the other stores were closed, JJ slammed her car door shut and began the drive back to the children's hospital; and as she drove, she began to cry. The tears were not just about the damn toy, they were about everything that had happened that year. Will leaving her, signing away his rights to Henry and effectively abandoning the two, Henry being diagnosed with an aggressive form of Cancer, and now- the only toy Henry wanted from Santa, she could not find.

He would be heartbroken- and she couldn't fix it, again. It was bad enough that her son had to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas in the now familiar, oncology ward- this just added to it. She had held him the day before, trying to figure out what had made him cry so hard, it was after much hugging and talking that she got him to speak to her.

"Mom, what if Santa doesn't find me here!" He had cried, visibly upset.

She had rubbed the tears off his pale face and laid in bed with him, assuring him that Santa would most definitely find him there. That Santa was magic, and that no matter where he was, Santa would find him. She promised.

Now, she didn't know what to do.

She took in a deep breath and steadied herself, not wanting Henry to see any tears. She walked down the halls, forcing a smile as she passed the giant Christmas tree in the lobby and the Christmas decorations that seemed to

"Mommy!" He jumped up, rushing to her side and leaping into her arms. JJ laughing at the hat on his head.

"I see your Aunt P brought you another hat!" JJ ran her fingers across the soft fabric.

"Yes, look what it can do!" He grabbed the two strands hanging down and gave them a squeeze. The ears on top of the green dinosaur hat flapped up and down each time he squeezed it. "It's magic!"

"I agree, Henry!" JJ nodded towards Garcia who was busy rearranging the decorations of the artificial tree. "Thanks, Garcia, for sitting with him." She said, watching Henry climb back into his bed, his eyes set to his favorite movie currently playing.

"Oh sugarplum.." Garcia started then saw the look on her best friend's face. "What's wrong?"

JJ shook her head. "Nothing. Garcia, nothing at all." She glanced over at her little boy and took a deep breath. "Henry, remember how we talked about Santa last night? Santa is going to come, but you might not get everything you wanted, okay?" She felt the tears stinging her eyes.

Henry looked over at his mom and again climbed out of bed. "Momma." He began and this time, wiped away her tears. "Momma, Santa brought me you." He snuggled up against her. "Momma, I know I might not get everything I want, and that's okay!" He put his hat on her head, wanting to comfort her. "Momma, I asked Santa for all those toys, but I also asked him for you to be with me on Christmas Eve… Santa already gave me that!"

Garcia's mouth hung open as she witnessed the interaction between mother and son. She had always known Henry was smart, but this was beyond smart. The brave little boy that was fighting cancer had told Garcia exactly what was on his list. And with that, Garcia slipped out into the hall, pulled out her phone and made a few phone calls. This was going to be the best Christmas ever- for both JJ and Henry.

Henry woke up just as the sun was coming up and gasped. Santa had come! His room was FULL of presents, so many that he couldn't walk around without having to bend down and move one over! There were big ones and little ones, ones with bows on them and others in bags, some didn't have any wrapping on them and just sat there waiting for him! In the corner was a giant teddy bear with a tie around his neck, a train ran around the Christmas tree, his stocking that hung above the construction paper fireplace was so full, Santa had added another one!

"MOMMA!" Henry shouted elated, at the amount of presents that filled his room.

JJ, hearing the shout, shot up in bed, briefly terrified that something had happened to her son. "Henry!" She looked up to find him tearing through a sea of gifts. What in the world? Where had all these come from?

"SANTA CAME! HE CAME!" Henry bounced towards her, one of the many presents in his hands.

"I see," JJ whispered, trying to catch site of the name on the tag. Who had done this? She knew the hospital normally planned a gift giving fiesta, that all the children normally got a few presents- but this- this was not the hospital. This was someone else.

She watched as her son tore through gift after gift, each one he accidentally showed her. At one point, JJ gave up on counting the gifts, there was simply too many. There was sports equipment, clothes, puzzles, games, robots, hats and gloves, gift cards and movies. She began to wonder how in the world she would get all this stuff home! And when Henry found the new bike set behind the tree, JJ had to laugh- how was she going to get this all home?

"Hi Henry!" JJ was surprised to hear the tiny voice of Jack Hotchner behind her; and before she knew it there whirlwind of a little boy was by Henry's side. "Woah, you got a lot of presents!" The little boy exclaimed.

"Wanna help me open them?" Henry offered his friend a gift and the two continued to shred the pile.

"Merry Christmas, JJ!" JJ turned to see her entire team rushing into the room, gifts in hand.

"Merry Christmas guys!" She smiled, happy that her team had chosen their holiday to spend time with her and her son at the hospital. "You didn't need to bring any gifts, he obviously has enough."

"Jayje, these are for you." Morgan stepped up and handed JJ his gift.

And then it clicked, the gifts for Henry- they had come from her team. "Guys, you didn't need to do this." She whispered, hugging each of them.

"No, but we wanted too," Rossi smiled.

All JJ could do was nod.

It was a few minutes later when she heard Henry and Jack gasp over a certain toy. Turning, her mouth dropped when she found Henry holding the Lego set he had been dreaming about!

"You found it?" She asked her team, all of them nodded, and JJ laughed when they all looked at each other. "Wait. You all found one?"

"I got one for Henry," Hotch stated

"Same here," Garcia chimed in, followed by repeated statements from the rest of the team.

"You all got him that?"

They all burst into laughter as Jack and Henry began stacking the seven identical Lego toys in a pile.

"You wanna take one home?" Henry asked Jack, giving him one.

"What are you going to do with the others?" Jack asked, playing with one of the toy airplanes Henry had received.

"Mom," Henry turned towards her, tripping over one of the Nerf balls. "I gots a lot of stuff and.." he started shuffling his feet. "And I know Santa brought it all for me, but.."

"What is it honey?" She bent down in front of him.

"Can I pretend to be Santa for the other kids and give them some presents too?"

JJ smiled proudly at her young son. The toys had arrived, her team had pulled off a miracle by finding the toy she couldn't. But it was her son that made her Christmas special. "I think that is a great idea!" She reached over and kissed him, laughing when he wiped it off his cheek.

"But mom," he turned around again. "Not all of the gifts, okay?"

"Deal." She winked. Another successful holiday spent in the hospital, all because her team had refused to let her or Henry battle this monster alone.


End file.
